Hillside School in Lower Macungie Township helps children unlock potential

I wrote the other day about how the good old days weren't always so good.

In at least some respects, that included the schools. Think about the child whose learning disability in reading, writing or math masked a wonderful mind that never was able to achieve its potential. Think of the frustration as parents and teachers tried to figure out why this child was lagging, in many cases concluding that he or she was dumb or lazy.

"Concentrate!" the child was told. "You just need to work harder!"

I'm sure that still happens sometimes. But with our better understanding of how minds work, educators have become much better at diagnosing some of these problems and finding real solutions.

Those solutions are what the Hillside School in Lower Macungie Township is all about. It's an independent day school that serves children in grades kindergarten through eighth who are bright and have language-based learning disabilities such as dyslexia (reading), dysgraphia (writing) and dyscalculia (math). They might have been written off decades ago. Now they have the opportunity to become the good students, even exceptional students, they have the ability to be.

"They're normal, great kids who have had trouble learning," explained Hillside Head of School Donna Henry. "Their brains are wired differently."

Founded in 1983, the Hillside School draws from five to seven counties and 16-plus districts and private schools. Hillside only buses students who live within 10 miles, so many families have to drive or carpool every day. Throw in private school tuition, and you're talking a big commitment.

"The whole family has to be engaged," board of trustees President Marilyn Marles told me as she and Henry took me on a tour.

Henry said it's not unusual for children to arrive throughout the school year as their parents decide they would benefit from the smaller classrooms — no more than eight in a class — and evidence-based teaching practices. By the time students return to a more traditional educational setting, typically in about three years, they're armed with skills, tools and strategies that can help them be much more successful.

Maybe it's technology so books can be downloaded to an iPad and read aloud to them if they're struggling with the printed page. Maybe it's a computer writing program that helps with their spelling so they don't automatically choose shorter, easier-to-spell words instead of taking advantage of their naturally strong vocabulary. Maybe it's a program that lets them dictate their report to a computer program rather than handwrite or type it themselves.

"It makes it easier for them to communicate what's really in their heads," said technology integration specialist Sharon Cohen.

The curriculum certainly isn't dumbed down. In one classroom, sixth- and seventh-grade students were debating whether police should be stationed in schools. In another, middle school students — taught by a PhD biochemist — programmed Lego robots to make designs with a pen and perform other functions. One third-grade class wrote and illustrated its own book, "Be the Best You Can Be," which was printed and bound by a real publisher. The halls throughout the school are covered with amazing artwork.

We spoke to eighth-graders Josh Wetzel and Julianne Rosko, both of whom will be attending Notre Dame High School next fall. Josh attended Hillside for Grades 1-4, returned to his traditional school, then came back this midyear for more help. "The other schools weren't working out for me," he said.

He and Julianne seemed confident that they're ready for the transition, but it's usually a stressful time for students and their parents, Henry agreed. It's important that their new teachers understand that some accommodations may be needed to continue what Hillside has begun.

For example, Henry said, some students need to just listen in class and get the notes later, rather than try to do both at once. Others won't do well with handwritten homework, but will be fine if they can type it. Some may need a multiplication chart or a calculator for basic computations that are part of more complicated math problems.

"It doesn't give them an advantage," Marles said of such accommodations. "It levels the playing field. If you had a bad knee, you'd use crutches, right?"

Some schools and teachers are more supportive than others, Henry said, but these students often become tremendous self-advocates, telling their new teachers what they need and overcoming the natural desire not to stand out as different.

Henry said, "It's very empowering to have control over what they need to be successful."

After all, these learning disabilities won't disappear when these kids attend college, graduate school or move into jobs. These tools and strategies will continue to help them reach their potential that might otherwise have remained locked deep inside them.

I don't begrudge you your fond memories of Dick and Jane or diagraming sentences on the blackboard. I'll just say that for this group of bright children whose brains are wired a little bit differently, these are the good old days.